Healthy Eating

Healthy eating starts by making informed food choices. Choosing a variety of nutrient-rich foods as the foundation of what you eat can help you live a longer, healthier life. Tufts experts keep you up to date on everything from shopping for the best meats, fish, fruits and vegetables to nutrition-smart food preparation and more.

Vitamins & Supplements

The best way to get the nutrients your body needs is by eating a balanced diet. But it's not always easy to meet your daily requirements of certain nutrients from food alone. Tufts experts separate the facts from the hype on supplements. You'll find unbiased information on vitamins like B-complex, C, D and E, supplements like omega-3 and lutein and essential minerals like magnesium and potassium and how they can protect or, in high doses, even harm your health.

Exercise & Mobility

The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Exercise can prevent weight gain, help you lose weight, reduce your risk for chronic diseases, even improve your mood. There are many ways for older adults to include physical activity and promote mobility. You'll discover in-depth ideas for protecting your mobility and independence, and receive the latest news on joint health, inflammation, and healthy bones.

Healthy Heart

A healthy heart is essential to remaining active and full of energy. Protecting your heart is easier than you might think. Taking steps such as limiting certain fats and including "good fats" that improve your cholesterol can reduce your risk of coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke. You'll learn about the most important steps you can take to ensure a healthy heart from the experts at Tufts.

Healthy Mind

Understanding how our brain functions is related to what we eat is an emerging area of fascinating scientific discovery. Learn how certain foods and nutrients affect cognition, and get the facts about brain-boosting foods such as green tea and dark chocolate so you can live the most mentally healthy lifestyle possible for years to come.

Healthy Aging

Feeling fit and well will help you get the most out of your everyday life as you age. Tufts experts will give you the knowledge to manage your health and offer tips on to increase your energy and maintain your independence. Stay on top of the latest health research to get the most out of life.

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Articles January 2011 Issue

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Extra Folic Acid Fails Against Heart Disease and Cancer

A lthough folic acid supplementation has proven benefts— most notably, preventing birth defects—hopes it might protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer were disappointed by a major new meta-analysis.

Folic acid seemed especially promising for cardiovas- cular protection because it lowers levels of an amino acid, homocysteine, associated with greater risk of heart disease and stroke. And, indeed, the supplements (ranging from 0.8 milligrams/day to 5 milligrams/day, often in combination with vitamins B6 and B12) did succeed in bringing down homocys- teine levels by an average 25%. But that didn’t translate into clinical benefts, the review concluded.

Robert Clarke, MD, of Oxford University in England, and colleagues analyzed eight randomized trials of folic-acid supplementation totaling 37,485 patients, average age 65, who suffered various underlying conditions including heart disease, diabetes, prior stroke and kidney disease. Two-thirds were men.

Across all eight trials, among patients randomly assigned to folic-acid supplements, 24.9% suffered a major vascular event and 11.4% experienced a major coronary event. Those rates were almost identical to the results for those getting a placebo instead (24.8% and 11.1%, respectively). No signifcant differences were seen for other outcomes including stroke, artery revascularization and coronary revasculariza- tion. Even in trials with the largest homocysteine reductions and those with the longest durations, the folic-acid groups showed no signifcant beneft.

Dr. Clarke and colleagues also looked at cancer risk in seven trials totaling 35,603 participants. Overall cancer incidence among those assigned to folic-acid supplements was essentially the same as those getting placebos—8.7% versus 8.2%.

In a commentary that accompanied the fndings in Archives of Internal Medicine, Jeffrey A. Tice, MD, of the University of California-San Francisco wrote, “This is a cau- tionary tale for all who are searching for therapies to prevent disease in the general population.” He added, “We should recommend therapies to prevent disease in healthy patients only when randomized trials unequivocally demonstrate that net benefts outweigh net harms, and we should continue to emphasize the importance of a nutritious diet, regular physi- cal activity, and no smoking as the best ways to optimize health.”

The one positive note from the meta-analysis is that it may help assuage concerns that folic-acid fortifcation of food, designed to prevent spina bifda and other neural-tube birth defects, might somehow prove harmful to the general population. Since 1998, grain products in the US and Canada have been fortifed with folic acid, which is the synthetic form of folate.

Dr. Clarke and colleagues noted, “Although the lack of any other benefts is disappointing (albeit fairly defnitive), the lack of any signifcant adverse effects on vascular events, cancer incidence, cancer mortality and overall mortality provides reassurance about the safety of population-wide folic-acid fortifcation.” Archives of Internal Medicine, Oct. 11, 2010; abstract at <archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/170/18/1622>

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Current Issue: March 2015

How Good Is Glycemic Index as a Marker of a Heart-Healthy Diet?

FDA Rejects Aspartame-Ban Petitions

Despite a drumbeat of bad press for aspartame, the US Food and Drug Administration says theres no new credible scientific evidence to change the agencys position that the zero-calorie sweetener is safe for the general population. The FDA recently rejected two citizen petitions calling for an aspartame ban. The agency noted it had analyzed 195 reports of supposed aspartame-related side effects over a 10-year span and did not identify any causal link between aspartame consumption and the reported adverse events or an established mechanism that would explain how aspartame is associated with the reported adverse events. More

New GMO Potato Cuts Cancer-Linked Chemical

French-fries and potato-chip fans concerned about cancer risk from fried potatoes may have hope on the horizon. Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co. has received USDA regulatory approval for a genetically modified potato that produces less acrylamide when fried. Thats the naturally occurring chemical linked to concerns about increased cancer risk from fried-potato consumption. The Innate potato, which comes in Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet and Atlantic varieties, also resists bruising, a potential money-saver for growers and processors. More

Dietitians Pick Top Trends

Trends to watch in nutrition-driven consumer choices this year will include growing popularity for seeds and nuts, green tea and ancient grains such as amaranth, quinoa, spelt and freekah, according to a survey of 500 registered dietitians. The survey, conducted for the journal Todays Dietitian, predicted that consumers will eat less red meat and continue to turn away from low-fat diets. Kale and coconut will remain popular based on their perceived health benefits (accurate for kale, less so for coconut), as will healthy choices like Greek yogurt and avocado. The dietitians also predicted consumers will keep trying gluten-free and wheat-free diets to lose weight (rather than out of genuine need, as in celiac-disease patients), despite a lack of evidence supporting such regimens for weight loss, while the so-called Paleo diet will gain in popularity. Also on the rise: misinformation about nutrition, fueled in part by the Internet. More

Poll: Consumers Want Restaurant Calorie Info

Most Americans support new rules requiring calorie counts on chain-restaurant menus and prepared foods in supermarkets, according to an Associated Press-Gfk poll. The long-awaited rules announced by the US Food and Drug Administration have generated opposition from some in the food industry. (See NewsBites, February.) But 56% in the poll supported calorie counts on fast-food menus, 54% at sit-down restaurants, and 52% on prepared grocery foods. Women and college-educated people were more likely to support the rules. More

Labeling Added Sugars Wouldnt Confuse Consumers

Would labeling added sugars on the Nutrition Facts panel confuse consumers, as industry opponents of the change have suggested? A new study of 500 consumers, published in the journal Obesity, rebuts those concerns: 63% of those surveyed said that including added sugar as a subset of total sugar on product labels would help them track and reduce their sugar intake. Only 18% responded that the change would be more confusing than helpful, giving reasons that suggest they were indifferent to the information rather than truly confused, and were likely among those who seldom look at nutrition labels anyway. More

Egg Consumption Projected at Eight-Year High

The incredible, edible egg is back ruling the roost, with US consumption expected to hit an eight-year highalmost back to the level of 2006, before concerns over cholesterol caused a slump. The American Egg Board reports that consumers have added 10 eggs per capita since 2011, cracking an estimated 257.9 eggs per person per year in 2014. Overall egg production was up 3% over 2013. More

Banned Supplements Dont Stay Off the Market

A new study, published in JAMA, reports that products sold as dietary supplements that have been recalled by the FDA often find their way back onto store shelves on average only a year later. The products were found to contain powerful but undisclosed prescription drugs, anabolic steroids and banned amphetamine-like compounds. But researchers were able to purchase 27 such recalled products with identical packaging; many others, they noted, return to the market with cosmetic changes to labels or branding. More

Not Enough Evidence for Routine Vitamin D Screening, Experts Say

An independent expert group that advises the government on evidence-based medicine says theres not enough evidence to recommend routine vitamin D screening for healthy people. Scientists for the US Preventive Services Task Force reviewed 17 studies of treating vitamin D deficiency in people without clinical symptoms. In recommendations published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the experts concluded that the association between vitamin D status and health outcomes is unclear, and the threshold for determining deficiency has not been firmly established. More